


Expulsion

by Eclipsi



Series: The Life of Newt Scamander [1]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: 1910s, Expulsion from Hogwarts, F/M, Gen, Pre-Series, spoiler-free
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8663566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclipsi/pseuds/Eclipsi
Summary: When a kappa goes rogue and tries to kill a student, Newt takes the blame, costing him his education.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Please note this was written before we became aware of the creature actually involved in his expulsion, which was, in fact, a Jarvey.

Newt emerged from the Hufflepuff common room at 2 o’clock one Saturday afternoon, his arms full of large, heavy books and crumpled parchment on his way up to the library. After climbing four flights of stairs, he rested his books on the bannister of the Grand Staircase to give his arms a rest. Suddenly, he heard an ear-piercing scream, and pulled his wand out of his robes and followed the direction of the scream. The sound led him down a nearby corridor when soon he saw the source of the commotion. A scale-covered monkey, with a water-filled, indent on its head, was throttling a student’s throat, watched on in dumbstruck horror by his friend, Leta Lestrange, who had her hand to her mouth but wasn’t moving. Newt had known she’d been keeping a Kappa in her dorm to research and experiment on and realised what had happened. Newt swiped his wand, no idea what he was casting, but it hit the kappa who went rigid and let go of the poor boy’s throat. It fell to the ground, stunned, and the water from its head spilling onto the floor, depriving it of all strength.  
Newt let out a deep sigh of relief, before looking at Leta, suddenly realising the consequences of this incident.  
“What is going on here?” a frowning Professor Phineas Nigellus Black, the Headmaster, said loudly and sternly. Newt just stared at a terrified-looking Leta, trying to think of a way out of it. Before he knew it, he spoke.  
“It was my fault, Professor,” Newt found himself saying. “I was researching this Kappa here, only whilst I was eating lunch it broke free and attacked Arthur, here,” He turned to look at the Headmaster. “I’m sorry Professor.” Newt said, although he knew ‘sorry’ wouldn’t make up for what had happened. Leta looked at Newt, still with a shocked expression on her face, but she didn’t object to what Newt had said. Black flicked his wand and the Kappa was tied up and hovered a few inches over the ground, floating towards himself.  
“Come with me, boy,” Black said, gesturing for him to follow. Newt walked briskly to catch up with him, looking at Leta as he went past her.  
“Newt,” she whispered, scared, but he shook his head, following the Headmaster.  
*  
“Mr Scamander, you irresponsibly and illegally have been ‘looking after’ a Kappa in your dormitory. You can’t be supervising it all the time, as evident by this incident. That student could’ve died, and would’ve if Miss Lestrange hadn’t cast that stunning spell to stop it. You have broken half a dozen school rules and, as well as that, laws. I have no choice but to expel you, I’m afraid, Mr Scamander, as this isn’t the first time you’ve been in trouble for beast keeping.” Professor Black said, shaking his head.  
“What are you going to do with the Kappa?” Newt asked, looking at the floor, trying to hide his upset at his expulsion.  
“The beast is uncontrollable and dangerous, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures will be here shortly to dispo-“ Professor Black began.  
“Please, sir, no!” Newt interrupted, “It hasn’t done anything wrong, it’s in its nature, it’s not dangerous, please, don’t kill it, it’s not dangerous, it’s misunderstood,” he pleaded with the Headmaster.  
“Enough!” he said, temper rising. “Maybe you should think about that next time you smuggle creatures into your dormitory, oh wait, there won’t be a next time. Now leave me,” Newt nodded and left the Headmaster’s office.  
After going down the stairs and walking a slight distance down the large wide corridor, he stopped and leant against the wall, holding the bridge of his nose as tears streamed down his face.  
“Newt,” a soft, female voice said, Newt didn’t look up, he couldn’t make eye contact with her, so just shook her head. “Newt,” Leta repeated. “Thank you,” Newt rubbed the tears out of his eyes.  
“Don’t mention it.” He said, his voice thick with tears, about to walk off but Leta grabbed his arm.  
“What did they do?” Leta asked, her voice slightly dreamy.  
“I’m expelled.” Newt said.  
“Oh,” Leta said, but she didn’t say anything else, didn’t offer to go and take the blame like she should. Part of Newt was, rightly, angry at her, their entire relationship had been Newt giving and her taking, but Newt loved her too strongly to voice his anger. Instead, he just kept quiet and walked slowly back to his common room to pack his things, dragging his feet along reluctantly.  
*  
“Phineas, I urge you to reconsider this decision. Mr Scamander did not release that creature into the corridor and was not responsible for it, I witnessed him myself walking up from the Hufflepuff common room at the time of the incident.” Professor Dumbledore, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, said calmly as he stood in Black’s office, opposite the desk at which the Headmaster was reclining in his chair.  
“Why would he have admitted responsibility if he hadn’t done it? I’ve already expelled him, anyway, Albus.” Black said, seeming entirely unconcerned about the whole thing, then again he was an uncaring man; the students often wondered why he ever started teaching given it was no secret that he didn’t care about how well or badly the students did, the only ones he showed the slightest interest in were the pure-blooded Slytherins. Dumbledore knew why Newt had taken the blame, but throwing the blame onto somebody else would just get them expelled as well, so telling the Headmaster would be illogical.  
“He must’ve been protecting someone.” Dumbledore said, in his ever calm voice. Black sighed.  
“Albus, I know you’re an intelligent man, if you know who is behind this, tell me, and Mr Scamander can spend the rest of his schooldays in this God-forsaken school.” Black said, no longer reclining, now sitting with his elbows rested on the desk.  
“I do not know,” Dumbledore said.  
“Well if you don’t know, Albus, no one will ever know, because you’re as clever as it gets, now if you’ve got no other business with me, you can leave.” Black said.  
“Phineas, Mr Scamander is an intelligent, if a little eccentric, student, and his interest in magical creatures should be encouraged, not supressed, because in the future he will do something world-changing and do you want to be the one who tried to stop him?” Dumbledore said, subtly challenging the Headmaster.  
“Albus, I’m not playing this game with you, and I’m not giving you your way because you manipulated me, and that’s my final word.”


End file.
